Lenovo Aims $199 PC At China's Rural Population

athloi writes "Lenovo has announced they are gearing up to sell a basic personal computer for 'China's vast but poor rural market'. The pricetag could be as low as $199. 'The new Lenovo unit will include a processor and a keyboard and will use a buyer's television set as a monitor, Chen said. He said he had no details on the processor size or other features. The new PC goes on sale later this year at prices of 1,499 to 2,999 yuan ($199-$399), Chen said. Lenovo is the world's third-largest PC manufacturer, behind U.S.-based Hewlett Packard Inc. and No. 2 Dell.'"

Comments

Ugh

[afidel]

Almost all SD TV's make horrible monitors. I'd think you'd be better off with a OLPC from a usability standpoint.

Re:Ugh

[ScrewMaster]

{sigh} why do people persist in ignoring the actual content of a message, and focus instead on whatever detail they can use to deride the other person? If it matters to you, I'm typing this on a dual monitor software development system, so of course my expectations have risen.

Then again, I live in a country where personal computer ownership is near-ubiquitous, where the only people that don't have a personal computer (or more than one) are those who simply don't want one. But if I were a poor Chinese peasant, who has no expectations greater than what I had back in 1978, that TV-based computer might be considered a Godsend. It's all relative, and that TV display is a one Hell of a lot better than nothing.

At the rate China's industry is expanding, I would venture a guess that the people who are the target market for this system will eventually have the opportunity to raise their expectations as well. But that takes time, and you have to start somewhere.

It makes me laugh.

[selain03]

It makes me laugh everytime I see someone develop a "cheap" computer with substandard, obsolete technology. The irony is that I can buy a nearly top of the line computer for $199 here in the states. It just takes some smart shopping and rebate forms. Examples:
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/749939/ (laptop for $181 after rebate)
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/749936/ (desktop for $180)

What I'm trying to say is that Fry's should open up a location in rural China.

1975

[Anonymous Coward]

Your class mate must be talking about 1975. I was born in 1976 in China, never heard such "slips" for computers.

China already has cheaper PC's

[John Sokol]

Gold Leopard King GLK has computers the are selling all over Asia, from China to India.
  These PC retail for the equivalent of $5 US!
  There is only a single chip in a cartridge the rest is just buttons and interconnect, no chips. They have at least 15 models that I have seen.
  They support printers, modems, a mouse, and supports 100 of video games from perfect clones of most Atari 2600, and early Nintendo like Mario Brothers.

  I have been trying to track down this company, there products are in shops everywhere, but there is no Address, website or any information on how to contact the company.
  Even the shop owners don't know how to contact them because there are just people that come around selling then to the shops.

    Model numbers look like GLK-6102, GNC-1133, GLK-5002, GLK-1119, GLK-2012,GLK 98, GLK 1339, GLK 5002
    They also seem to come under many other brand names, and make lower end game clones that are sold here in the US, and even in Walmart China.

    With a little bit more work, they would be able to add a web browser and many other cool apps.
    I would really like to get in touch with this company.

Here is an example:
http://famiclone.emucamp.com/goldleopardking/glk.h tm
http://www.museo8bits.com/famiclones.htm
http://ultimateconsoledatabase.com/famiclones/gold _leopard_king.htm
http://n-europe.com/special.php?sid=retro3&page=2